Armed ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ Suspect Dies in Florida Shootout

Northwest Florida authorities will also be working with officials in Missouri, in Georgia and in Alabama to make sure they have solid evidence for each crime before charging Harper.

Blake Fitzgerald died in the Florida showdown and his girlfriend, Brittany Nicole Harper, was taken to a local hospital wounded.

She is at Sacred Heart Hospital with injuries to her leg and ankle.

Shortly after midnight, police spotted the stolen pickup truck on Interstate 110 and chased it into a residential neighborhood where the truck came to a screeching halt.

(CNN) – One half of the Missouri couple police say is responsible for a multistate crime spree is dead, and the other is in custody after an overnight standoff with Florida law enforcement officers. No law enforcement officers were injured in the shootout.

Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan and Florida State Attorney Bill Eddins discuss shooting and capture of “Bonnie and Clyde” fugitives. Fitzgerald drove the Edge with the woman inside, and picked up Harper, York said.

According to law enforcement officials, Fitzgerald got out of the stolen truck, and while using Harper as a human shield, headed towards the back door of the house.

Before Thursday’s face-off with cops, the U.S. Marshal had asked the public for help in finding the pair, focusing on Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Missouri.

On Monday night, a clerk at a gas station was taken hostage, after the alleged robber took money from the safe and cigarettes. Just a short time later, they invaded a home in Vestavia Hills and claimed to have had auto trouble when they encountered the homeowner.

The standoff lasted for 15 minutes, and at 12:52 a.m., Fitzgerald was dead at the scene.

Morgan says that he knows of no ties Fitzgerald and Harper had to the Pensacola area.

Police are still looking at the couple’s possible connections to other robbery investigations, but here is a list of crimes in which investigators believe they were involved. Escambia County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Amber Southard said the robbery happened about 4:40 p.m. A white, bald male with a thin build entered the store, showed a gun to the clerk and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash. She was later released unharmed, the U.S. Marshals said in a statement.

The hotel clerk who was abducted in Alabama, Kyle Dease, told Al.com that he spoke with his captors during the almost two hours he was held on the drive from Tuscaloosa to metro Birmingham.

In issuing an all-points-bulletin on the Gulf Coast for Fitzgerald and Harper, the U.S. Marshals Service earlier in the week called the couple a “modern-day Bonnie and Clyde”. Fitzgerald pulled his gun, stole the family SUV, and then took the wife hostage.

Six officers have been placed on administrative leave according to protocol as state investigators review the shooting.